End sheet folding machine



July 11, 1967 F. JAMES, JR. ET AL 3,330,718

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July 11, 1967 F. JAMES, JR, E AL 3,330,718

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ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent Ofiice 3,336,718 Patented July 11, 1957 3,330,718 END SHEET FOLDING MACHINE Fred James, Jr., and William B. Waller, Des Moines, Iowa, assiguors to Library Binding Service Inc., Des Moines, Iowa, a corporation of Iowa Filed May 28, 1962, Ser. No. 198,064 11 Claims. (Cl. 156-554) This invention relates to a folding machine for end sheets of bound books.

One object of the invention is to provide a machine through which oversewn book assemblies having end sheets sewed thereto may be passed and the machine will effect proper automatic folding and gluing of certain portions of the end sheets, thus eliminating the necessity of hand folding and gluing them.

Another object is to provide a machine for folding a special type of end sheet in the form of an assembly of two fly leaves, an end sheet and a pre-glued cloth hinge wherein the marginal edges of the fly leaves and hinge are glued together, and the rest of the hinge beyond the marginal edge is glued to the end sheet, the exposed surface of the hinge being provided with glue, a portion of which may be activated by steam during the end sheet folding operation.

Still another object is to provide a folding machine which automatically folds the end sheets of a book assembly to proper shape by merely transporting the assembled book and end sheets through a guideway of the machine.

A further object is to provide the guideways of the machine with means for accomplishing the folding operation, and in one portion thereof a partial folding which leaves clearly defined channels of the cloth hinges used in the end sheet assembly exposed to a steam jet, after which the sides of this channel are pressed together by pressure shoes while the end sheets are still spread sidewise from the book, following by folding the end sheets up against the sides of the book to condition the book for a final pressing operation on opposite sides and adjacent the back thereof.

Still a further object is to provide a conveniently operable clamping device for this purpose which, if desired, may be provided with heating means to facilitate setting of the glue in the hinge joints of the book.

An additional object is to provide a machine capable of increasing production from 50 or 60 per hour using hand methods to 250 or 300 per hour when using our machine as herein disclosed.

With these and other objects in view, our invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of our end sheet folding machine, whereby the objects above contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in our claims and illustrated in detail on the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a special end sheet assembly for which our machine is designed;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the pages of a book and two of the end sheet assemblies sewed together preparatory to passage through our machine;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a book in various positions and the parts thereof progressively operated on as accomplished by passage through our machine;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view through a portion of a book after the front and back covers and the back thereof have been applied to the pages and end sheets that issue from our machine;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a similar sectional View showing the different positions of the parts of FIG. 5 after passage through our machine;

FIG. 7 is a side elevation of our end sheet folding machine;

FIG. 8 is a plan view thereof;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 9-9 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a side elevation as on the line 1010 adjacent FIG. 9 showing a portion of the machine;

FIG. 11 is a plan view as on the line 11-11 of FIG. 7 showing a clamping and heating assembly;

FIGS. 12, 13, 14 and 16 are enlarged vertical sectional views on the lines 12-12, 13-13, 1414 and 1616 respectively of FIG. 7;

FIG. 15 is a plan view as on the line 15-15 of FIG. 13;

FIG. 17 is an enlarged sectional view similar to a portion of FIG. 13 and showing a book being operated upon; and

FIG. 18 is an electric switching circuit for certain electrically operated elements of the machine.

On the accompanying drawings we have used the reference numeral 20 to indicate an end sheet and 21 a pair of fly leaves which are assembled, together with a cloth hinge strip 23 to form the end sheet unit shown in FIGS. 1, 5 and 6. Referring to FIG. 5 the marginal edges of the fly leaves 21 are glued together as indicated by means of stippling at 22. About one-fourth of the hinge 23 is glued to one of the fly leaves 21 as indicated at 24 and threefourths is glued at 25 to the end sheet 20.

The hinge strip 23 is scored at 26 and both the end sheet 20 and the hinge strip are scored at 27. The exposed side of the hinge strip is coated with glue indicated at 28, 29 and 30 ready for adhesion dur'ing the end sheet folding operation and for subsequent attachment of the pages and end sheets of the book in the book cover.

FIG. 6 depicts the folded character of the end sheet resulting in passage through our machine, and it will be noted by comparison with FIG. 5 that the hinge strip 23 has been folded at the scoreline 26 so that the glue 28 is adhered to the glue 29 while the cover sheet 20 and the hinge are folded along the scoreline 27 to a position parallel with the fiy leaves 21 and capable of serving as a hinge at the scoreline 27 for permitting of movement of the end sheet to the dotted line position and consequently the book itself to open position as shown in FIG. 4.

With further reference to FIG. 4 a front cover 31, a back cover 32 and a back 33' are illustrated for the book, the pages being illustrated at 34. After the pages and end sheets have been assembled in our machine, the end sheets 20 are glued to the covers 31 and 32 and the end sheets and the hinge strips 23 thereupon serve as hinge connections and hinges respectively for the covers of the book as illustrated. I have found that end sheets of this type provide particularly serviceable books as the fly leaves are sewn as indicated at 35 to the pages, and the end sheets and their hinges when folded down as illustrated serve as very long-lasting and serviceable hinge connections whereas the fly leaves, which sometimes receive rough usage, are so well anchored as to stand much abuse.

Heretofore the end sheets have been folded by hand from the position of FIG. 5 to the position of FIG. 6, and moisture has been applied as by a wet brush to the glue 28 and 29 by hand. Even a skilled operator cannot perform this operation on more than 50 or 60 books per hour. We have designed our machine to perform the required steps of the operation in rapid sequence and operation of the machine requires only manual passage of the assembled pages and end sheets as shown in FIG. 2

through the machine to accomplish all the required steps automatically.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, an elongated base 36 has an elongated housing 37 mounted thereon. This housing as shown in FIG. 9 is substantially rectangular and has a table 38 forming its upper wall. This table is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 3 as a support for the partially completed book of FIG. 2, identified as B, during its passage through the machine for the end sheet folding operation. The several positions thereof as it passes through are identified as B1, B2, B3, B4 and B5.

First of all, the book as shown at B1 in FIG. 7 is position on the table 38 with the end sheets 20 opened as shown in FIG. 3 and the book advanced to position B2 at which position there is a stationary side plate 39 and a movable side plate 39a of the cross section shown in FIG. 12 cooperating with folding shoes 40. These shoes have beads 41 extending longitudinally thereof. The folding shoes 40 and the beads 41 cooperate with the lower ends of the side plates 39 and 39.: as shown in FIG. 17 to form an inverted V-shaped space 42 (which is virtually sealed off by the shoe 40) to receive steam indicated at 43 from a nozzle 44. As shown in FIG. the head 41 ends before the book reaches the nozzle 43, the direction of travel being indicated by the arrow 45. The shoe 40 is notched as indicated at 46 to accommodate the nozzle.

The nozzles 44 may be mounted on brackets 47 by means of wing nuts 48 for ready adjustment and removal, and are provided with inlet nipples 49 and condensate drainage vents 50. The nipples 49 are connected by flexible hoses 51 to a vaporizer 52 within the housing 37, an access door 53 being provided therefor, an electric cord 54 extends to a suitable source of current supply for energizing the vaporizer to cause it to generate steam. Due to the confinement of the steam 43 as shown in FIG. 17 it moistens only the desired portion of the glue, to wit, 28 and 29 in FIGS. 5 and 6, and as depicted at 42 in FIG. 3 also.

Referring to FIG. 9, the end sheet is shown as depending into a space provided therefor, the height of the apparatus being designed to receive end sheets for relatively wide books. The stationary side plate 39 in FIG. 9 is mounted on a bracket 55 stationary with respect to the base 36. A guide wire 56 serves to engage the end sheet 20 and depress it so that it will pass under the bracket 55. The movable side plate 39a is supported on a similar bracket 57 except that this bracket is movable. The bracket 57 has a guide wire 58 similar to the guide wire 56.

The lower end of the bracket 57 is mounted on a slide plate 59 slidable in a way 60 as also shown in FIG. 10, and is adapted to be moved in opposite directions by a motor M operatively connected through step-down gearing 61 having a pinion 62 meshing with a rack 63 mounted on the slide plate 59. The left hand folding shoe is also mounted for simultaneous movement with the movable side plate 39a and this is accomplished by mounting it on a post 64, a bracket 65 and a post 66, the post 66 being secured to the side plate 59.

FIG. 9 shows the motor M operated to spread the movable side plate 39a with respect to the stationary side plate 39. It is sometimes desirable, especially when there is a long run of same-thickness books through the machine, to dispense with the operation of the motor M. The movable side plate 39a .may then be locked in the desired position by a clamp screw 69 and nut 70 which cooperate with the slide 59 and the way 60. At other times, when only a few books of one thickness and then groups of other thicknesses are being operated upon, the motor M is utilized to automatically adjust the machine for each book thickness that passes through it.

When the machine is in use, a book is placed in position B1 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 7 and slid through positions B2, B3 and B4. In passing from position B1 to position E2 the end sheets 20 are depressed by the guide wires 56 and the lower edges of the guide plates 39 and 39a cooperate with the beads 41 of the folding shoes 40 to provide the V-shaped spaces 42 of FIGS. 3 and 17.

When the book reaches position B3 in FIG. 3 elongated pressure shoes 71 shown in FIG. 14 (one for each side) press against two longitudinal areas indicated at 72 in FIG. 17 and by arrows 67 in FIG. 3 of the end sheets 20 to adhere the steam glued surfaces 28 and 29 together as shown in FIG. 6-. Before this occurs how ever the end sheets encounter guide plates 73 at the downstream ends of the shoes 40 which are twisted to the shape shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 14 in order to swing the end sheets upwardly as shown by an arrow 85 at position B4 in FIG. 3. Vertical side plates 82 and 82a at position B4 serve to keep the book in closed position as indicated by arrows 74.

The book B4 is now assembled, together with its end sheets, and ready to be bound into its cover as shown in FIG. 4 after a further clamping operation applied to the hinge joint. This is accomplished by lifting the book from position B4 shown in FIGS. 3 and 7 and lowering it to a position between clamp bars 75 and 76 of angle iron cross-section. The clamp bar 76 is secured to a base 77 (see FIG. 11) which in turn is mounted on the base 36, and the clamp bar 76 is movable thereon, being supported by piston rods 7 8 of pneumatic cylinders 79. Pipe connections 80 and 81 extend to a suitable source of compressed air supply 86, and a control valve 87 may be operated for actuating the pistons 78 in one direction for moving the clamp bar 75 toward the clamp bar 76, or in the opposite direction for separating the two with respect to each other.

Thus far we have not described certain automatic phases of our machine which involve control circuits such as disclosed in FIG. 18. These circuits include a number of switches which will now be described.

Proceeding in the usual reading direction, SCS is a stop closing switch and CS a closing switch. These switches are shown at the top of FIG. 9, being mounted on the movable side plate 39a and the stationary side plate 39 respectively. They are adapted to be contacted by the book assembly B shown by dot-and-dash lines in FIG. 9 for opening the normally closed switch SCS and closing the normally open switch CS as will hereinafter appear.

An opening switch OS is provided which as shown in FIG. 8 is positioned so that its actuator 68 projects through a slot in the table 38 at a position adjacent the discharge end of the vertical side plates 82 and 82a. Next a two-way switch is provided which comprises an opening control switch OCS and a closing control switch CCS. This two-way switch OCSCCS is in the form of a limit switch as shown in FIG. 9 to be actuated to the position shown in FIGS. 9 and 18 by a limit switch actuator 87 adjustable along a rod 83 connected with the rack 63. Next is a closing limit switch CLS also mounted as shown in FIG. 9 to be actuated from an actuator 89 adjustable on the rod 88.

Below the two switches just described is an emergnecy switch ES and a main switch MS which may be conveniently located on the housing 37 as shown in FIG. 9. These are manually operable switches.

An opening relay OR is provided, also a closing relay CR. The opening relay OR has four switches which are identified by lettered terminals, the terminal H2 indicating a holding switch and the terminals L1, L1 and L2 indi cating line connections for three motor control switches involved in a reversing or opening circuit for the motor M. The relay OR also includes a solenoid S1 which when energized closes the normally open switches of the relay.

Similarly the closing relay CR has three terminals L1, L2 and L1 involved in the forward or closing circuit of the motor M and a holding switch which may be identified by its terminal H1. A solenoid S2 when energized closes the four switches of the closing relay CR.

FIG. 18 shows wiring for the various switches disclosed including a terminal L2 for the motor switch MS and a terminal L2 for the motor M. All four terminals L1 are connected to one line of a source of current supply and all four terminals L2 are connected to the other line thereof, the line wires being omitted to avoid confusion in the circuits shown.

The motor M has a pair of coils 90 and 91, one of which represents the field windings and the other the armature windings thereof. The coil 91 is adapted to be energized always in one direction of current flow while current in the coil 90 may be of one polarity for forward rotation of the motor M and opposite polarity for reverse rotation thereof. The closing relay CR when closed effects forward rotation for closing the side plate 39a against the book B in FIG. 9, and the opening relay OR when energized reversing the motor and thereby opening the side plate 39a.

PRACTICAL OPERATION When our machine is ready for operation, closure of the main switch MS will connect it to the circuit for such operation. The book assembly B is placed at position B1 and slid to position B2 which results in the end sheets 20 being depressed to the position shown at B2 in FIG. 3 by the guide wires 56 and the jets of steam 43 moisturize the glue as the book assembly moves from position B2 to position B3. At position B2 the book assembly is pressed by the operator against the side plate 39 which closes the closing switch CS thereby establishing a circuit through the solenoid S2 of the closing relay CR, such circuit being traced from L2 through MS, CCS, CS and S2 to L1. This results in energization of the motor M for closing the side plate 39a and since the holding switch H1 has been closed the circuit is held for S2 from H1 through SCS, CLS, ES and MS to L2.

The motor M will now continue to rotate in the forward direction until the side plate 39a contacts the book assembly and this results in opening the stop closing switch SCS thus breaking the circuit for the solenoids S2 and the relay CR drops open. This results in de-energization and stoppage of the motor M whereupon it holds the side plate 39a at that position while the book assembly is passed on through position B3 to position B4. In FIGS. 8 and 13 it will be noted the nozzle 43 is carried by the movable shoe 40 adjacent the side plate 39a and the actuator 89 similarly set to limit the minimum distance between the plates 39 and 39a. These adjustments are particularly useful to minimize time requirements for the operation of the motor M. As previously referred to, the operation of the motor M may be dispensed with when a large group of same-thickness books are being assembled, the side plate 39a being adjusted to the desired position by operation of the motor and then the adjustment locked by the nut 70 (FIGS. 9 and 10). The main switch MS may then be opened. Ordinarily, however, especially in small binderies for libraries, etc. where most of our machines will probably be used, the automatic adjustment feature is of considerable value as a time saver.

Our machine is semi-automatic in that it requires manual transport of the books through the machine and into the clamps 75- 76, whereas is can be made fully automatic by having an automatic transport means. In its semi-automatic version, however, it is relatively inexpensive to manufacture yet increases production to a satisfactory extent when compared with hand methods. If made fully automatic it is doubtful that the added expense of manufacture is justified in view of some manual handling of the books being even then required. The folding operations are performed automatically and precisely, and the glue 28 and 29 is activated automatically and with precision as far as the desired area of activation is concerned. Pressure is applied to the appropriate parts of the end sheets during passage of the book through the machine, and a final clamping operation is performed in the clamp 75-76. If desired, the clamp bars may be provided with electric heating elements 83 and 84 respectively to set the glue and eliminate the necessity of careful handling until the glue has dried as would be necessary if the glue were not set by heat.

The construction of the machine is such that the hot, moist steam is trapped inside the fold of the end sheet as shown in FIG. 17 thus softening the desired area of glue and also the threads 35 that project into the glue joint as illustrated in FIG. 17. Subsequent compression and clamping compresses these parts to provide a perfect bond of neat appearance.

The machine is comparatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture, thus being economical for use in small book binderies, of which there are many operating as a service particularly to libraries.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of our end sheet folding machine without departing from the real spirit and purpose of our invention, and it is our intention to cover by our claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may reasonably be included within their scope.

We claim as our invention:

1. In an end sheet folding machine, a table along which a book assembly comprising pages, fly leaves and end sheets having pre-glued hinge portions may be advanced with the back of the book assembly downward, guides for swinging said end sheets away from said pages and fly leaves, shoes for engaging the outside marginal portions of said hinge portions and side plates for engaging the inside of said hinge portions and cooperating with said shoes in forming inverted troughs of said hinge portions, means for discharging moisture into said troughs, and pressure shoes for collapsing said troughs and thereby adhering the sides thereof together, all as the book assemblies are advanced along said table.

2. An end sheet folding machine in accordance with claim 1 wherein clamp means is provided for the book assembly after said troughs have been collapsed, said clamp means having a stationary side and a movable side, and fluid pressure means operable to move said movable side toward said stationary side after the book assembly has been moved to a position between the two.

3. An end sheet folding machine in accordance with claim 1 wherein said means for discharging moisture comprises steam jets discharging into said troughs.

4. In an end sheet folding machine along which a book assembly comprising pages and end sheets having pre-glued hinge portions may be advances with the back of the book assembly downward, side plates between which the book assembly may be advanced, power means for closing said side plates against the book assembly, control means responsive to the presence of a book assem bly between said side plates to actuate said power means in the closing direction, opposed shoes and side plates for forming inverted troughs of said hinge portions, means for discharging moisture into said troughs, pressure shoes movable relatively toward each other for collapsing said troughs and thereby adhering the sides thereof together, and a second control means responsive to a final position of the book assembly to actuate said power means in the opening direction.

5. An end sheet folding machine in accordance with claim 4 wherein said means for closing said first side plates comprises a motor and a control circuit therefor having limit switches for de-energizing the motor at predetermined open and closed positions.

6. An end sheet folding machine in accordance with claim 2 wherein said stationary and movable sides of said clamp means each have heating means to set the glue.

7. An end sheet folding machine in accordance with claim 4 wherein further control means is responsive to closure of said first side plates against the book assembly to stop the closing action by said power means, and still further control means is responsive to the opening action of said first side plates reaching a predetermined position for stopping the opening action by said power means.

8. In a machine of the character disclosed, a table along which a book assembly comprising pages and end sheets have pre-glued hinge portions may be advanced with the back of the book assembly downward, a pair of side plates for a book assembly, one of said side plates being stationary and the other movable, power means for moving said movable side plate, control means for said power means which is responsive to a book assembly against said stationary side plate and which is operable to cause said power means to move the former toward the latter for automatically adjusting them to the book assembly thickness, means for forming inverted troughs of said hinge portions by the passage of the book assembly therepast, means for discharging moisture into said troughs, means for collapsing said troughs and thereby adhering the sides thereof together as the book assembly is advanced along said table, and control means responsive to a final position of the book assembly on said table for causing said power means to retract said movable side plate.

9. A machine of the character set forth in claim 8 wherein clamping means is provided for the book assembly after the sides of said troughs have been adhered together, power means is provided to operate said clamping means, and means is provided for heating said clamping means to set the glue.

14 In an end sheet folding machine, a table along which a book assembly comprising pages and end sheets having pre-glued hinge portions may be advanced with the back of the book assembly downward, openable and closable side plates for the book assembly, a motor for closing and opening said side plates, control means responsive to a book assembly between said side plates to operate said motor to close them, means for forming inverted troughs of said hinge portions as the book assembly is moved therepast, steam jets for discharging moisture into said troughs, pressure shoes for collapsing said troughs and thereby adhering the sides thereof together as the book assembly is advanced along said table, and a second control means responsive to a book assembly at the discharge end of said table to reversely operate said motor to open said side plates.

11. An apparatus for folding the end sheets of a book, comprising an elongated track for supporting the back of a book set therein in an upright position, end sheet folding dies disposed along both sides of said track, each of said dies defining a lengthwise gap having a crosssectional configuration corresponding to the desired fold configuration whereby both of said end sheets will be simultaneously folded along longitudinal folds when said book is advanced along said track and said end sheets are passed edgewise through said gaps.

References Cited EARL M. BERGERT,

D. J. DRUMMOND, R. I. SMITH, Assistant Examiners.

Primary Examiner. 

1. IN AN END FOLDING MACHINE, A TABLE ALONG WHICH A BOOK ASSEMBLY COMPRISING PAGES, FLY LEAVES AND END SHEETS HAVING PRE-GLUED HINGE PORTIONS MAY BE ADVANCED WITH THE BACK OF THE BOOK ASSEMBLY DOWNWARD, GUIDES FOR SWINGING SAID END SHEETS AWAY FROM SAID PAGES AND FLY LEAVES, SHOES FOR ENGAGING THE OUTSIDE MARGINAL PORTIONS OF SAID HINGE PORTIONS AND SIDE PLATES FOR ENGAGING THE INSIDE OF SAID HINGE PORTIONS AND COOPERATING WITH SAID SHOES IN FORMING INVERTED TROUGHS OF SAID HINGE PORTIONS, MEANS FOR DISCHARGING MOISTURE INTO SAID TROUGHS, AND PRESSURE SHOES FOR COLLAPSING SAID TROUGHS AND THEREBY ADHERING THE SIDES THEREOF TOGETHER, ALL AS THE BOOK ASSEMBLIES ARE ADVANCED ALONG SAID TABLE. 